Interior CIO targets troubled IT programs

Bernard Mazer, CIO, Interior

It's one list agencies didn't want to find themselves on. In August, federal CIO Vivek Kundra released a list of 26 troubled, mission-critical IT projects that could be nixed if things don't improve. The Department of Interior has two projects on the list.

Bernard Mazer, Interior's CIO, said that they realized that the projects were heading off track last year.

"There's a series of progressive IT reform measures that the administration has embarked upon," Mazer said, and in complying with last year's IT dashboard, the Interior realized they had a problem on their hands.

So the Interior reached out to the Office of Management and Budget. The two worked together, looking over the projects and activities, revaluating them with different perspectives.

Working with Kundra, Mazer said, meant that the road going forward didn't include progress in big bangs.

Part of their efforts have included breaking down projects into elements that are more manageable, and deliverable time-wise.

"We need to do punctuated delivery of services and benefits of applications to customers in the shortest time possible," Mazer said.

The biggest step in getting the projects back on the right track, Mazer said, was engaging in a dialogue to try and see that critical applications realize success

The projects aren't in the clear yet though, and there are still more meetings to be had with Kundra and the OMB staff.

"I can state that the upcoming sessions will not have the single-bright-light or the Men In Black-types of outfits," Mazer joked.